tense gop debate proved to be a texas-sized slugfest. >> you'll have competition. you'll have so many different plains. >> now he's repeating himself. >> no. no, no, no. no. >> i watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago. >> i saw you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago. he says five things, we're going to make america win. we're going to lead in the polls. >> you're all talk and no action. first of all, this guy's a choke arsist and this guy's a liar. >> and those were just the slower moments. developing overnight, new details on the kansas shooting. four dead, 14 others injured. and erin andrews leaves the courtroom as the jury is showing the naked video taken by her convicted stocker.

oscar. "early today" starts right now. good morning. it was a true texas slugfest. republicans came out swinging. both former president bush and barbara bush were in attendance. the donald wasn't one to sit back and take it, take a look at the top tweeted moment of night on the subject of replacing obama care. >> so that's the only part of the plan? just the interstate competition? >> you'll have many different plans. you'll have competition. you'll have so many different plans. >> now he's repeating himself. >> no. no, no, no. i watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago. >> i watched you repeat yourself

>> i watched him melt down on the stage like i've never seen anybody. >> let's keep on the subject. let's talk about your plan. >> he says five things. you're going to make america great again, we're going to win, win, win. >> senator rubio, please. >> every niall. >> please stop. >> attacks on trump's political donations. >^ for the book -- >> donald, donald, relax. >> i'm relaxed. you're the basket case. go ahead. go ahead. >> don't get nervous. >> does it work? >> and then cruz brings us full circle slamming trump on past health care positions. >> have you said you're a liberal on health care. >> excuse me. let me talk. >> talk away. explain your plan. please. >> my plan is very simple. i will not -- we're going to have -- we are going to have private health care, but i will not allow people to die on the sidewalks and the streets of our country if i'm president. you may let it, and you may be

>> does the government pay for everyone's health care? yes or no. >> we are going to take people -- >> just answer the question. >> excuse me. >> on wednesday trump was the most googled candidate in the state of texas and during the debate, the numbers were similar with john kasich and ben carson getting a boost. trump dominated twitter conversation and gained the most followers. rubio and kasich were second and third. later, cruz talked to nbc's hallie jackson about trump's tax returns. >> i want to get your sense -- >> rather astonishing that donald still refuses to hand over his tax returns, raising a real question what's in there? if his audits reveal he's committed tax fraud, republican primary voters deserve to know that now and not in the general election. >> -- irs. >> i do, but that doesn't mean anyone can commit fraud and defraud the irs. >> governor kasich maintained a positive tone after the debate. >> as the field gets narrower

time, it a lewllows me to be in my kmpt zone. i was able to get it being constructive not being in a war. >> he's actually right. e had edged out marco rubio in speaking time by just under a minute. dr. ben carson ended the night talking to msnbc's chris matthews about this views on medicine and the future of his campaign. >> and people ask me all the time, do you miss medicine? and i always say, i miss the way it used to be. this would be one of my goals. to try to make medicine fun again. to make it efficient again. >> will you be with this race all the way top cleveland? >> it will really depend on how many delegates we're collecting, and how much enthusiasm we have. >> meanwhile, over on the democratic side, hillary clinton is speaking out about her relationship with donald trump. >> how surprised are you that we

washington said, oh, my god, this guyed going to be the next nomination i. nomination. >> i didn't no him well. most surprising to see somebody affable, good company had a reputation of being bigger than life. really traffic in a lot of the prejudices and paranoia and some of the comments he's made, so divisive and mean-spirited doesn't quite fit with what i thought i knew about him, and so i think it's going to be interesting to see -- if he does get the nomination, he decides to do with it how he presents himself, but he has really been offensive, and in many respects surprising to those of us who did know him. >> the "new york times" editorial board, which endorsed clinton, is now calling for her to release the transcripts of her paid wall street speeches. sentiments that her campaign rival bernie sanders agrees with.

that hillary clinton has received many millions of dollars from wall street for her campaign and for her super pac. she's received very large speaker's fees from goldman sachs. i think those are important issues. and by the way, i "new york times" editorial, urging secretary clinton to release the transcripts of the speeches she gave behind closed doors to wall street. >> clinton responded hitting back against her critics. >> the real question underneath this is -- okay. if you take money from wall street. >> right. >> can you regulate wall street? >> right. >> well, barack obama took more money from wall street than any candidate who's ever run for president, turned around, passed an signed the dodd/frank bill. i think you should be judged on what you've done, and -- and i -- i'm more than happy to put my record against bernie sanders. if you look what caused the

for in 2000, had a greater impact than most of the talk that we're now doing. so let's -- let's get everybody out on the same field. i feel like -- you know, i don't mind being responsive. i don't mind answering question, but at some point i want everybody to have to answer. >> right. i respect that call. can you assure the american people that you didn't say anything in those speeches that would undermine your promise to be tough on wall street and big banks? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> the full interview with hillary clinton hairs s airs later this morning on msnbc. in other news, three people are dead and 14 others injured after a gunman opened fire at multiple locations in rural kansas late yesterday afternoon. the alleged shooter who has been identified as sedrick larry ford was armed with a long gun and a pistol and killed by police exchanging gunfire. nbc has the report.

pop, pop. >> reporter: near the end of the work day when authorities in south central kansas were called to a shooting, and a report by another attack as another location and then word of active shooter inside excel industries. >> didn't matter who it was. no specific target. shooting anyone that got in his way. >> reporter: first he shot someone in the plant's parking lot. >> looking at him, he yelled, went -- entered the building. >> reporter: multiple fatalities and more gin you ared. >> inside the building he shot a total of 15 people. four were killed, including himself, the shooter. >> reporter: the sheriff says the lone gunman was killed by law enforcement after he went on a shooting spree as four locations. authorities have not yet reveal add motive, but say the suspect was employed at the plant. dan shanman, nbc news. kansas governor sam brownback ordered flags lowered today in honor of the victims.

thursday to vacate a judge's order that it assist the fbi in assessing the iphone of san bernardino shooter sayed farook saying the order would violate the fifth amendment rights and damage security of their products. fbi director comey countered the argument saying the code would only work in farook's phone. google, facebook and microsoft plan to sell separate amicus or friend of the court briefs in support of apple within the next week. a look at your weekend weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. the west has been really nice most of this week. quiet, not very stormy. two storms to deal with going throughout your weekend. first approaching coastal area, mostly a weak storm affecting northern california northward bringing rain today, especially for your ride home from work and school, too. 5:00 p.m.

portland, definitely have umbrellas, seattle a little after 5:00. kids get home from school at least and further south in these areas of california. by 8:00, onshore and lighter. a period of light rain. not a lot of rain out of this system. just enough if you're concerned about getting wet, have the umbrella. today's forecast, still very warm areas from phoenix, tusons, los angeles, looking warm today. saturday a nice day for everyone. the storm in the west moves to iran mountain west, showers through salt lake city and boise. sunday, a bigger storm moving onshore. notice a chance of thunder in the seattle area. heavier rain, temperatures pretty warm but the highest passes getting snow from the storm system. watching that as the weekend progresses. that's your national weather. here the a closer look at your day ahead. so for today, once again, seems like this is the case for a lot of our storms.

the cutoff line in california for rainfall and areas of central oregon watching the rain for you later this afternoon. i guess your pick afternoon in the west, saturday afternoon. looks like the best. >> looks like a good one, bill. appreciate it. just ahead, an amazing medical first for women. plus, an emotional erin andrews leaves the courtroom as the jury views the naked video shot by a convicted stalker. and a dramatic rescue. police pull a man from a fiery car crash. dames in two. (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room) about 50 percent of people die (dog whimpering) within 5 years of getting diagnosed. but there's something you can do. talk to your doctor about heart failure treatment options. because the more you know, the more likely you are... (dog whimpering)

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chilling and uncomfortable moments in court that caused erin andrews to leave the courtroom. jurors saw for the first time the tape at the center of her

hoare roolgts shot by a stalker. we have more. >> reporter: the video that she says changed her life was shown to a room full of strangers. erin andrews stepped out as the jury sat in the dark watching those stolen images viewed almost 17 million times. >> so this is the first one at the national marriott. correct? >> yes, this is the one. once it's on internet it's on internet. many have multiple copies there. >> reporter: michael david barrett altered the peep hole of andrews' door and saw her getting dressed. he a admitted to following her to three different hotels across the country. he offered a tearful apology, begging her forgiveness. >> his apology isn't good enough. it doesn't take down the video off the internet. i've cried enough and it's not taking the video down.

therapist described the panic andrews felt when her stalker got out of jail and she wasn't told. andrews is expected to take the stand next week. hearing new testimony from the man she says left her hurt and humiliated. morgan radford, nbc news. dramatic moments as a police officer in corpus christi, texas, rescued the driver captures video. all captured on video. >> get out of the car. your truck's on fire. get out. come on. crawl out the passenger side door. your car is on fire. dude, you're on fire. >> the officer broke the window with his baton and then he and several onlookers pulled the driver to safety just before fire engulfed this suv. the driver was treated at a hospital for

incredible video there. and surgeons in cleveland say they have performed the first uterus transplant that used uterus from a deceased organ donor. this, for woman to have a chance at pregnancy. just ahead, oprah winfrey loses $24 million as weight watchers is losing more than just a few pounds. one day a rider made a decision. the decision to ride on and save money. he decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. there's no shame in saving money. ride on, ride proud. geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. this is where i keep my meatballs. do you think it's squishy in there or something,

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this morning on "today," a behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated netflix show "fuller house." time to get down to business now. seaworld admitted thursday that some employees spied on animal rights activists. in a statement, seaworld said it wanted to maintain the safety and security of the company after it received threats. ceo joel man vi stated that em flow employees are no longer posing as animal rights activists. oprah lost $24 million. don't feel too bad. overall gain nearly $75 million since she became the face of the company. just ahead, which classic film is getting a sequel.

in your favor this sunday. oscar bets are in. you're watching "early today." i sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising.

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and now for some entertainment news -- >> the oscars are this sunday night and the las vegas oddsmakers have spoken. odds for best picture

dicaprio, looks like his first-ever in "reserve nanlt" "venant"revenant." and will brie larson take home gold for "the room." 1-3 odds. and rounding out the top predictions awards, best odds to win best director for "the revenant" at 1-2 and took home last year's oscar for "birdman." the 88th academy award airs this sunday night on. and streaming rights for woody allen. more for his previous film. >> doing well with the prize subscriptions.

in the world of media as amazon throws out $15 million for woody allen. and a "mary poppin's" movie is talked about. "saturday night live" released its lineup the next cub of weeks. march 5th, jonah hill, musical guest future and march 12th, ariana grande, new music, she'll be the host and musical guest. this is "early today." does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members? is your success due to a filing system only you understand? does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things.

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leading the news -- in the san francisco "chronicle," dna testing reunites colombian sisters after 30 years. they were separated as children after a volcanic eruption triggered an avalanche. it took at least 20 lives. the sisters were taken in and raised by separate families. on thursday they met for the first time after three decades, and a social media campaign, and a dna test. from the bbc news, "holy grail" the beatles record to be auctioned. gave the beatles a recording contract, 50 years languished and a law forgotten by its holder. now that rare piece unveiled and up for sale bearing the handwriting of the fab four's manager. estimated value upwards ofs 14ds,000 t. will go for more than that. >> i would think so. other stories we're following -- mark zuckerberg was not pleased

out someone what defacingss matter poster in the building. a hurtful experience for the entire black community. and melissa click fired by the university of missouri. the board voted 4-2 to terminate click for confrontations with police and students during campus protests over racial injustice in the fall. click has apologized for her actions and said she was very stressed and flustered at the time of the incident. this isn't something you see every day. an escaped unicorn. i didn't realize there was such a thing posing as unicorn got away from her owner. after hours of searching, residents were able to tie her down without injury. >> put some wings on.

the penguins" on a treadmill pap cute penguin is part of one study scientists conducted. how they get funding for these studies. >> i know. >> observes the gait between fat and skinny penguins. fat penguins are strikingly less steady on their feet making them more vulnerable to president terrorter -- predators. and talking about the $1 billion moon shot initiative to find a cure for cancer. tapped by president obama to lead this in january. biden lost his son to brain cancer last year. keep it right here.

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3 (samantha)>> plus.. a long- awaited development in reno's new professional soccer team... the name that made the cut after thousands voted ... and what comes next. 3 (bill)>> and... sparks were flying during last night's gop debate in houston.. the insults and the comebacks.. these stories and more.. coming up on this friday, february 26, 2016. 3 ((male voice: you're watching news 4 today on your side in high definition.)) 3 (bill)>> good morning 3 and thank you for choosing us to start your day. i'm bill